It’s a concert that Toronto has yet to duplicate, and for good reason.

11-plus hours of music , headlined by The Rolling Stones and featuring bands like AC/DC, Rush, The Isley Bros., Sam Roberts, and the Guess Who.

450,000 people invading Downsview Park.

The ridiculously cheap $20 tickets were tough to get, selling out within minutes of any announcement.

I landed the concession gig through a temporary employment agency. They called it a “concession position,” with no mention of the concert, so I was obviously pleasantly surprised to see where I ended up.

It was a hot day. Scorching sunlight. Fortunately the concession stand had an abundance of shade.

It was stocked with the usual – burgers, hotdogs, drinks – but the thing was people brought coolers with their own stuff. They didn’t want to pay the markup prices.

The view was not pristine, but it was enough that you could see and feel the vibe. I saw the name brand of water bottles that were pelted at Justin Timberlake during his set.

So here I was at my first real concert with a rather large combination of food and drink at the ready, with idle hands on a hot, dry day.

I sure did.

We all did.

And you would have done the same thing.

I even scratched up a recap of the day:

SARSstock Starts Toronto Up

In what can only be described as a Rock and Roll lovefest, 450,000 people jammed Downsview Park July 30th for SARStock, a benefit concert headlined by The Rolling Stones designed to restore Toronto’s battered image abroad.

For approximately twelve hours American, Canadian, U.K., and a certain Australian band rocked Toronto setting several new records in the process. The concert is now certified as the biggest benefit in Canadian history. The day could be barely summed up in one statement: “You had to be there.”

Aerials by our armed forces shaped the beginning of the day, hosted by Dan Aykroyd, with a flyby of a CF-18 fighter jet. There were surprise guests, including superstar Canadian director Norman Jewison. This day however, was about the music.

Outstanding performances included Sam Roberts, The Guess Who, The Isley Brothers and the band who stole the show from the headliners – ACDC. The music was a little uneven in the beginning, but began to find its form somewhere between The Tea party and The Isley Brothers.

Justin Timberlake had a short 20-minute number but was effective, belting a minimally choreographed medley of “Cry Me a River”, “Senorita”, and “Rock Your Body”. A nifty beatbox routine that would have made Biz Markie proud concluded the set. The brief moment of rudeness of the day reared itself when several water bottles were pelted at Timberlake, who shrugged them off with aplomb.

“I guess you’re here for the same reason I am. To see the (expletive) Stones!” he said in the understatement of the day.

The Guess Who injected an industrial dose of rock nostalgia with their set, which included “American Woman”, “Hand Me Down World”, “No Sugar Tonight”, and “New Mother Nature“. “Taking Care of Business” was the crowd’s favorite. It was undeniably good music that reminded many of another time and place.

Many groups can learn from ACDC and the way they rock a party as only they can, immediately launching into an awesome succession of hits like “Highway to Hell”, “Back in Black”, “Hell’s Bells” and “Dirty Deeds”. The aging rockers well into their fifties were typically uncompromising with the music. They played with the crowd. Angus Young, the lead guitarist playfully revealed his Canadian boxers to the enjoyment of the people. Lead singer Brian Johnson delivered on the trademark high pitched screaming vocal. The Aussies were clearly enjoying themselves on the monstrous stage. They had the fans strutting in the portapotties. The Stones were probably a little taken aback, giving the crowd an extended break to absorb the moment by delaying their 9:45 start time by fifteen minutes.

Mick’s usually throaty vocals were missing on their opener “Start Me Up”, but to their credit they improved with each successive song, rolling into form on “Groovy Tuesday” and the crowd sing-a-long “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. Charlie Watt’s drums were solid and Keith Richards was steady on the lead guitar. Mick’s trademark stage presence was delightfully present throughout with Richards getting an impromptu ovation.

“Come on, I’ve got a show to do,” he playfully responded.

Timberlake joined Mick on stage for “Miss You,” with Justin almost matching Mick step for step on the stage. Not bad, kid.

The crowd was clearly waiting for “Satisfaction” and in the end, it was delivered. Although Canadian Hip-Hop was conspicuously absent, many polled afterward said it was a day well spent.

Makes you wonder what they will do for an encore.

I ended discussing the concert later that year at Universal Music Canada headquarters with Erika Savage, who at the time was the Manager of Business and Legal Affairs.

She currently works at Interscope records in Los Angeles.

Her take on SARSstock remains interesting. Here’s an excerpt:

Erika Savage: I was there! It was great. I felt old, because I didn’t want to go into the mosh pit anymore. I was perfectly happy to sit in the tent watching people drink beer. I thought it was great, I mean it was a really good opportunity for a lot of Canadian bands like Sam Roberts to get some exposure with huge acts like The Rolling Stones, it was kind of a good bonding experience in Toronto, it’s been a long time since we had a really big show like that, so I thought it was a great idea. I was nervous trying to get there, I was thinking it was gonna take two days to get there and back but it was really well organized so I thought it was really good.

Kenai: I thought ACDC stole the show….

Erika Savage: Yeah! I agree. I was laughing because I was thinking that. I left about four songs into The Rolling Stones to be honest and I really enjoyed seeing ACDC because I’ve never seen them live, I’m from Calgary, so I listen to a lot of ACDC. I knew every word of every song! I was laughing because there’s a big age difference between ACDC and The Rolling Stones. A lot of kids there probably didn’t know ACDC that much maybe a little bit but by the time The Rolling Stones came on, they’re into it because it’s The Rolling Stones but there are probably too young to really know the meaning of the songs and even I am. I’m 29 so I love The Rolling Stones, but it’s not like ACDC so I have to say ACDC was the highlight for me…

Kenai: Now I noticed … I had a bit of a pet peeve in that there wasn’t any Canadian Hip-Hop or R & B on the stage.

Erika Savage: No, there definitely wasn’t.

Kenai: Maybe they’ll do another one next year and put a little bit of that into there, that would be the icing on the cake…

Erika Savage: Yeah, I think that’s a really good point, not criticizing in any way, but a good point nonetheless. I’m trying to think of the Canadian acts … Kathleen Edwards, Sam Roberts…

Kenai: There was a Quebec group (La Chicane), Sass Jordan…

Erika Savage: That’s right. I think one of the comments that was made in relation to The Rolling Stones that they were the greatest, rock, R & B, rhythm and blues group, (laughs) it just rubs you the wrong way. I was kidding with my friends like ‘What is that?’ I don’t know that the Isley Brothers would agree The Rolling Stones are the greatest rhythm and blues group ever. The fact that the Isley Brothers are there is a good point. If you can have the Isley Brothers then why can’t you have a Canadian R & B or hip-hop act in the show? They clearly weren’t just having rock acts in the show you know, so … It would have been a great place to have been seen… It’s not surprising to me.